The new budget initiative of Telangana government is creating tension among the irrigation officials. According to the new proposal, the government wanted to provide Rs 25,000 Cr to the irrigation department to speed up the execution of all the pending projects in the state during the ensuing financial year. What is worrying the official is a new move of the government in which the irrigation department itself will be given the power to release the allocated funds in the budget. This might lead to excessive political interference and pressure on the department the officials fear.

Hyderabad: A new move by the Telangana government to empower the irrigation departs to have full control over the funds allocated in the budget is creating tension among the officials. According to sources, the government is proposing an allocation of Rs 25,000 Cr to the irrigation department during the 2016-17 financial year.

Until now the funds allocated in the budget are released by the finance departments on submission of bills for the works executed. When the irrigation department submits the bills of the works completed then the finance department issues Budget Release Order (BRO), approving the bill amounts. It was only on the basis of the BROs the government treasury department releases the funds. The process was followed for the sake of due checks and balances in the control and management of the public finances.

But, the proposed move will empower the irrigation department to have full control over the funds allocated in the budget to it and it would release the funds against the bills submitted for the realization of executed works.

The new process was intended to do away with the abnormal delays taking place in the sanctioning of the bills for the completed works for months and in some cases more than a year. Sometimes it is so happening that the finance department diverts the funds from one account to another account to meet immediate financial needs. In such circumstances, the finance department keeps the bills submitted in pending for months until it got enough funds to clear them.

Though the move has a reason, at the same time senior officials from other departments were advising the top officials in the irrigation department not to accept such move. Because, it would put the entire financial control on the irrigation officials. And, going by experience it is quite a routine affair that politicians and people’s representatives from all parties, and in particular from the ruling party mount pressure on the irrigation officials for the release of funds. So far the irrigation departments officials could escape by saying that release of funds is with the finance department and they could not do anything. But, once the irrigation department is empowered with finance control, there is every likely hood of excessive political interference and pressure on the department, as it was witnessed during the YSR Rajasekhara Reddy’s regime. If a similar scenario is repeated then it would be the senior officials of the irrigation department who would be accountable and in the soup if something goes wrong. It was, for this reason, some of the senior civil servants were advising their colleagues in the irrigation department not to get into taking the risk.

However, officials in the Telangana finance department said that empowering the irrigation department shall not mean that the entire amount of Rs 25,000 Cr allocated to the irrigation would be dumped into that department’s account. The new move fixes a monthly quantum of funds that the irrigation department would be authorized to spend. And, to that extent it was allowed to spend in a month, the department could release funds to pay the bills without any delay and without seeking any separate permission from the department of finance.
But, the problems associated with the new method would come to fore only when it would be implemented says the officials from the TS irrigation department.